This dish was inspired by a lovely cookbook by Ann Willan called The Country Cooking of France. It showcases simple French comfort foods prepared using classic regional techniques. This particular dish is prepared à la tourangelle, which at first glance might appear to mean “in angel tears,” but in actuality it means “in the style of Tours.” According to Ms. Willan, that involves cooking things like meats and vegetables with bacon, butter, and fresh herbs. When I read that I had to sit down for a minute. It actually made me light headed, as it sounds even more heavenly than angel’s tears. Where do we sign?
The original recipe called for fava beans, but those can be a little tricky to find, so figuring that any legume would suffice, we went with the abundantly available sugar snap peas. It also called for cipollini onions, which are delicious, but like other small onion varieties (e.g. pearl, Thai shallots, baby red Creole, etc.), they can be a little, um, “challenging” to peel. This is where a technique like blanching comes to the rescue. If you trim the root ends off of the onions with a sharp paring knife (carefully, please), you can drop them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then plunge them into an ice bath until they’re cool to the touch. After that, give the tops a good pinch and the onions will pop right out of their skins. The whole process takes about ten minutes and it’s weirdly satisfying.
Once you’ve trimmed the pea pods and diced the bacon, you are good to go. With apologies to the vegetarians, the aroma of bacon cooking in butter is the kind of thing that makes people want to run away and go to culinary school, so brace yourselves. Also, the butter browns in the process, and if you’ve been paying attention, you know how worshipful we can get when it comes to beurre noisette. Le. Sigh.
We find that it’s best to use small- to medium-sized cipollini onions, as this ensures that they will cook through and caramelize beautifully. This gives them a sweet, lightly pungent taste and a soft, buttery texture which plays perfectly against the bright crispness of the peas. It’s a fantastic contrast of color, flavor, and “mouth feel.” A literal feast for the senses.
You finish the dish with a little salt and pepper, the crispy bacon and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. In this case, those herbs are parsley and tarragon, and as big fans of both, it really is lovely to see them used so well—especially the tarragon. With so many elements in this little symphony of flavors, the bright licorice essence of the herb hangs at the front of the palate like a clear, high note, in perfect harmony with the nutty note of the browned butter, the smoky saltiness of the bacon, the rich caramel of the onions and the clean, sweet vegetal note of the peas.
You’ll find yourself savoring every bite and clamoring for more when the last forkful is gone. Paired with roasted lamb, chicken or pork, this gorgeous side is a fabulous, delectable way to welcome Spring. Enjoy!
Adapted from The Country Cooking of France.
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 10 ounces cipollini onions (about 18 total), blanched and peeled
- 1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring regularly, until crisp and lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the onions to the pan, cover, and cook over low heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned and softened, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the peas to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until peas are bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add tarragon, parsley, and salt and pepper (to taste).
- Sprinkle with reserved bacon and serve.
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